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A Day In The Life Of A Healthcare Administrator

We ran across a really great interview of a healthcare administrator that goes on to detail what every day is like when they get to work. In addition to just finding out what the health admin does every day other important things like exactly how they got to that position are covered.

Job Title & Position

The man’s name is James Wade Atkins and he was interviewed in All Healthcare which is a Monster publication. The full designation of what Mr. Atkin’s career, title & degree are stated as: “James Wade Atkins, M.S., Medical and Health Services Manager, Clinical Center, Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.” That’s quite a mouthful, huh?

Competitive Programs

Mr. Atkins started by talking about how he always went through life asking why as a child. This led him down the path of becoming an MD but once he realized he liked laboratory science more than actually working with patients he changed direction. The further focus on education was in the path of clinical laboratory science. The program Mr. Atkins got accepted to was very competitive & he got in one of the 10 positions from 50 applicants.

Education History

The education that James Atkins acquired might surprise you a little bit and doesn’t exactly fit the specific mold of a health services manager. The degrees that Mr. Atkins got were a Bachelor of Science with a focus in Biology and a Master of Science with a focus in General Administration. There were also some certifications that Mr. Atkins added to his education attainment list which were Medical Technolgy certifications and a Specialist in Blood Banking certificate.

What is a day like as a health services manager?

A day in the life of this health services manager is also a little bit different than you may have heard before. This health manager is in a laboratory all day and focuses mainly on problem solving and audits of patient blood samples. The lab is a QA (quality assurance) team setup that is monitored by the FDA & American Association of Blood Banks (AABB).

Health Services Manager Duties

The main duties that Mr. Atkins mentions in his interview are three main ones with them being: Auditing, Evaluating and Documenting. The auditing makes sure that everything in the lab is following regulations and procedures in accordance with state & federal law. The evaluating comes in with new protocols & equipment that the lab may use in the future and needs to be tested. The documentation is an important part that makes a log of all things that go on in the lab.

Future for this career according to Mr. Atkins is to advance his position to the secretary of Health & Human Services. In order to get this new position a Ph.D. would be in the future of Mr. Atkins but he seems to be up for it. For more information about Mr. Atkins or to read his interview check out All Healthcare.